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This year marked the tenth anniversary of A Mini Vacation in Las Vegas, and the Sin City Mini Club pulled out all the stops. This year’s AMVIV took place at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa. Nearly 200 Mini Coopers and their owners spent fours days motoring the desert highways, twisty mountain roads, and scenic byways, and cruising the famous Las Vegas Strip.

When I learned that AMVIV was in its tenth year, I had to be there. AMVIV 2006 was the first big Mini motoring event I attended, before my 2006 MINI Cooper landed on U.S. shores — it was literally on the boat. My first AMVIV wasn’t spent Mini-less, as I was given a loaner convertible Mini. I’ve been to seven AMVIVs and they all have been different, from hotel location to event planning. AMVIV began in 2004, about two years after the MINI Cooper arrived in the U.S. Learn more about its history here.

After some intense pre-event car detailing, I packed up my car and joined a caravan of Minis heading north on the I-15 from San Diego, on a Wednesday afternoon. Meeting these drivers for the first time over walkie-talkie chatter, I was greeted openly with hand waves as I joined the traveling pack. We stopped in Baker, Calif., for gas and a quick face-to-face handshake before continuing our drive to the Red Rock Casino & Hotel. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot, we were greeted by the Sin City Mini Club (SCMC) and I met my hotel roomie, who flew in from Washington and would become my weekend copilot.

This year’s AMVIV schedule was jam-packed with more runs, games, and events than ever before. Our Thursday started with a drive to the Shelby Automotive Museum for a tour of the facilities, followed by an afternoon of driving around Las Vegas finding answers to three poker-run scavenger hunts, catching up with old friends as more Minis arrived, and a Motor In dinner as 100 attendees took over BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse. For those who didn’t make the Shelby tour, there was a 175-mile round-trip drive to Temple Bar Marina on Lake Mead, or you could hitch a ride with the Vegas Off-Road Experience (VORE) in Boulder City, Nevada. The night ended with a hotel suite party sponsored by the local Mini dealer.

On Friday I opted to sleep in a little and catch the 11 a.m. run to Sandy Valley/Goodsprings, about 50 miles southwest of Las Vegas. This drive had a few twisty roads and ended at the Pioneer Saloon in the old mining town of Goodsprings. After exploring the old mining town, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening’s Strip cruise. I needed to find a car wash after collecting a front grille full of bugs. At 6 p.m. a parade of Minis took off from the hotel and met up at the start of the Las Vegas Strip to swim upstream in a Technicolor herd of hardtops and convertibles. Once back at the hotel, drivers mingled around the parking lot or the hotel pools until it was time to head to the Hotel’s Red Rock Lanes for a night of VIP Cosmic Bowling. Gamers showed off their bowling skills under the glow of black lights with three large screens playing “Gone in 60 Seconds” and the original and newer “Italian Job” movies looping over the 12 private lanes.

I was up bright and early Saturday morning to take part in the S.A.F.E HOUSE “Show and Shine” benefit car show. The morning began with some last-minute detailing as I prepared to compete against my friends for best Mini hardtop. With clean boots opened and bonnets pointing to the cloud-filled ski, there was some fierce competition among new and classic Minis for this year’s People’s Choice award. After the show ended, a group of 40-plus Minis took part in the day’s only scheduled drive, a 26.5-mile loop drive through Red Rock Canyon State Park to do a little afternoon sightseeing. After the drive we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the biggest AMVIV pool party in history. Registered attendees were treated as VIPs at the Red Rock Casino’s Backyard Oasis pools with a buffet dinner, live D.J., cash bar, and a live performance by the one and only Miss Kitty Kaboot on a stage surrounded by the 2013/2014 MINI Cooper lineup provided by Desert Mini of Las Vegas. The afterparty continued into the wee-hours of the morning at the Rock lounge.

Sunday morning was bittersweet. Early-bird travelers, (like myself), left early on the last day of events to get back home, while others kept motoring on. Some Minis went to the Las Vegas Speedway for some autocrossing or motored the 92-mile loop to Mt. Charleston, ending AMVIV X with an optional brunch in mountain lodge.

AMVIV X promised to be the most exciting, most jam-packed AMVIV in history, and it was.